Finding their new normal. Kelly Clarkson et Bijou related to being single parents – and how they had to adjust to being without their children during the holidays.
“I’ve been divorced for seven years so my ex is babysitting my son for Thanksgiving and I’ve got him for Christmas and that’s really awesome,” Jewel, 48, said during the Monday, Dec. 12, episode of Le spectacle de Kelly Clarkson about her custody agreement with her ex-husband Toi Murray. “But it’s a trip to get used to being alone on a vacation like this and my whole family is in Alaska.”
The ‘Foolish Games’ singer, who shares son Kase, 11, with her, the professional bullfighting rider, 53, added that it was “not too serious” of a situation before jokingly saying that she was going to “bring down the show” with “little violins”.
The Alaskan native and rodeo cowboy secretly eloped to the Bahamas in August 2008 after nearly a decade together. The couple then welcomed their son in 2011 but called him three years later.
“My husband, friend and partner of 16 years and I have decided to divorce”, the Grammy winner announced via her official blog at the time. “Ty and I have always tried to live the most authentic life possible, and we wanted our separation as husband and wife to be nothing less than loving how we came together.”
Jewel concluded her statement by sharing that the duo’s “dedication” to Kase is “unwavering” and that they were both “committed to being the best partners in raising our son.”
In June 2020, the Men in the trees star open exclusively to We Weekly how “difficult” co-parenting could be for their little one – especially during the COVID-19 quarantine.
“He misses his father, he cannot go to see his father at the moment because of the stay [order]. So it affects his life,” she explained. “It definitely takes a lot of conversations to help him understand. And then also just to know that it’s OK to be sad. It’s a sad thing.
On Monday, Clarkson, 40, echoed Jewel’s sentiment of finding her groove flying solo as a mother. She shared it was “weird” when her two children – daughter River Rose, 8, and son Remington Alexander, 6 – left her to spend the season with her ex-husband. Brandon Blackstockbut there was a silver lining.
“It was weird because you always had a child there. And then all of a sudden, you’re on your own,” the American Idol winner explained. “At first it’s weird and then you’re like, ‘OK, I can do things.’ It’s a bit unbelievable. You get some time for me.
Jewel, for her part, agreed that it was “good preparation for empty nest syndrome” and noted that being alone “forces” her to do the things she did before having a child.
“I suddenly feel like I’m forgetting what I’ve done. I’m alone and I’m like, ‘What have I done? I did things,” she joked. “But you’re getting better.”
Clarkson added, “That’s awesome. And absence makes the heart grow fonder.
The ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ singer and Blackstock, 45, started dating in 2011 and announced their engagement less than a year later. After getting married in 2013, the duo welcomed their children in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Clarkson filed for divorce in June 2021, with a source telling exclusively We back when the two “competed against each other on so many levels.”
After a messy back-and-forth, the “Moment Like This” crooner and manager were declared legally single in August 2021 and a judge signed their settlement the following March.
In February 2021, Clarkson got candid about the “difficult” aspects of co-parenting with her ex.
“With me and Brandon, it’s just a hard thing because we’re in different places, and it’s like we both agree on the main things, but it’s a hard thing when you you’re not together all the time, for me personally,” she told the guest Khloe kardashian at the time, adding that despite their ups and downs, she and Blackstock know their “focus” should always be on the needs of River Rose and Remington.
“As long as you make sure it’s about the children and their best interests, we’re both okay,” she said.